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Thursday, August 29, 2013

THE KINGMAKER'S DAUGHTER by Philippa Gregory ★★★★

Reviewed by Emily Barber‘The
Kingmaker's Daughter’ by Phillipa Gregory is the gripping story of the
daughters of the man known as the "Kingmaker," Richard Neville, Earl
of Warwick: the most powerful magnate in fifteenth-century England. Without a son and heir, he uses his
daughters, Anne and Isabel as pawns in his political games, and they grow up to
be influential players in their own right.

At
the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows
from a delightful child to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father
makes war on his former friends. Married at age fourteen, she is soon left
widowed and fatherless, her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the
enemy. Anne manages her own escape by marrying Richard, Duke of Gloucester, but
her choice will set her on a collision course with the overwhelming power of
the royal family and will cost the lives of those she loves most in the world,
including her precious only son, Prince Edward. Ultimately, the kingmaker's
daughter will achieve her father's greatest ambition.

First
of all a disclaimer of sorts: I love Sharon Kay Penman's ‘The Sunne in
Splendour’ set in the ‘War of the Roses’ period and I have read it multiple
times. So my reactions whilst reading ‘The Kingmaker's Daughter’ are coloured
by that. There were multiple times whilst reading I found myself saying
"Wait, that's not right" and I had to remind myself that both books
are novels and no one can know the truth about character and motivations. However,
most readers won’t know this.

In
saying that I did enjoy this book and Phillipa Gregory deserves much praise for
this series. I highly recommend this book, but I have to warn readers that this
is an intense and dark part of history and there is no happy ending.

Philippa
Gregory was an established historian and writer when she discovered her
interest in the Tudor period and wrote the internationally bestselling novel
The Other Boleyn Girl. Now she is looking at the family that preceded the
Tudors: the magnificent Plantaganets, a family of complex rivalries, loves, and
hatreds.

Her
other great interest is the charity that she founded nearly twenty years ago:
Gardens for The Gambia. She has raised funds and paid for 140 wells for the
primary schools of this poor African country. A former student of Sussex
university, and a PhD and Alumna of the Year 2009 of Edinburgh University, her
love for history and commitment to historical accuracy are the hallmarks of her
writing. She lives with her family on a small farm in Yorkshire.

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Susan May is a writer; so she is an avid reader. Her taste is eclectic, and she's not a literary snob. Susan has gathered together some other crazed readers (mostly other Mum's she knows) so that you can read more reviews read by critics who enjoy that genre. So, you will find reviews here based on whether the book delivers what it promises. We haven't got time to read the ones that don't.

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